was a Japanese ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...
'' of the
Bakumatsu period
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. ...
, who was the last ruler of the
Kuwana Domain
250px, Reconstructed portion of Kuwana Castle
was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province. It was centered on Kuwana Castle in what is now the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture. It was co ...
. Sadaaki was the adopted heir of
Matsudaira Sadamichi, the descendant of
Sadatsuna, the third son of
Hisamatsu Sadakatsu
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He was the half-brother of Tokugawa Ieyasu. His father was Hisamatsu Toshikatsu and his mother was Odai no Kata, Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and fir ...
(1569–1623), who was
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
's brother. His family was known as the Hisamatsu Matsudaira clan. It was to this family that
Matsudaira Sadanobu
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief of the Tokugawa shogunate, from 1787 to 1793.
Early life
Mats ...
also belonged.
Biography
Early history
Matsudaira Tetsunosuke (the future Sadaaki) was born at
Ichigaya
is an area in the eastern portion of Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
Places in Ichigaya
* Hosei University Ichigaya Campus
*Chuo University Graduate School
*Ministry of Defense headquarters: Formerly GHQ of the Imperial Japanese Army; following World ...
in
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
, the 8th son of
Matsudaira Yoshitatsu
The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of th ...
, ''daimyō'' of
Takasu Domain
The was a Japanese domain located in Mino Province (present-day Kaizu, Gifu). For most of its history, it was ruled by the Takasu-Matsudaira, a branch of the Tokugawa clan of Owari Domain.
Matsudaira Katamori, Matsudaira Sadaaki, Tokugawa Yoshi ...
. His older brothers included
Matsudaira Katamori
Matsudaira Katamori after the Meiji restoration
was a samurai who lived in Bakumatsu period and the early to mid Meiji period Japan. He was the 9th ''daimyō'' of the Aizu Domain and the Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Commissioner of Kyoto). He ...
, who later became ''daimyō'' of
Aizu
is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...
and
Tokugawa Yoshikatsu
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain as its 14th (1849–1858) and 17th daimyō (1870–1880). He was the brother of Matsudaira Katamori. His childhood name was Hidenosuke (秀之助).
Early years
Yoshi ...
and
Tokugawa Mochinaga
was a Japanese samurai who was an influential figure of the Bakumatsu period. His childhood name was Shizasaburo (鎮三郎).
Biography
The son of Matsudaira Yoshitatsu of Takasu han, his brothers included the famous Matsudaira Katamori, M ...
of
Owari Domain
The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated a ...
In 1859, Tetsunosuke was posthumously adopted to succeed Matsudaira Sadamich] as ''daimyō'' of the
Kuwana Domain
250px, Reconstructed portion of Kuwana Castle
was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province. It was centered on Kuwana Castle in what is now the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture. It was co ...
. He was betrothed to Sadamichi's 3-year-old daughter Matsudaira Hatsu, thus formalizing the adoption. He was give the
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some con ...
of ''Etchū-no-kami'' and Lower 5th court rank. Coming of age, he took the name Sadaaki.Two years later, in 1863, he was assigned to accompany
Shogun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...
Tokugawa Iemochi
(July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866.
During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...
to
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the cit ...
, as the shogun had been summoned by
Emperor Kōmei
was the 121st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 (121)/ref> Kōmei's reign spanned the years from 1846 through 1867, corresponding to the final years of the ...
to report on progress on expelling the foreigners from Japan. This was the first time since the visit of
Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川 家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who ...
in the ''
Kan'ei
was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./ref>
Chan ...
'' era, 230 years before, that a Shogun had visited Kyoto.
Kyoto Shoshidai
Matsudaira Sadaaki was appointed ''
Kyoto Shoshidai
The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was adop ...
'' in the period spanning May 16, 1864, through January 3, 1868 and was thus the last person to hold this post. This was an important administrative and political office, essentially the shōgun's deputy in the Kyoto region, and was responsible for maintaining good relations and open communication between the shogunate and the imperial court and for the administration of Kyoto and its eight surrounding provinces.
[ Beasley, W. G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868,'' p. 325.] This was an unusual appointment, as the post of ''
Kyoto Shoshidai
The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was adop ...
'' was normally held by a ''
fudai daimyō
was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admini ...
'' of greater experience who had previously held the post of ''
Osaka jōdai''.
As ''Kyoto Shoshidai'', Sadaaki supported his brother Matsudaira Katamori, who had been appointed ''
Kyoto Shugoshoku
The was a Japanese bureaucratic office of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1862 through 1868.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kyōto-shugoshoku''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibli ...
''. This was a new nearly co-equal office established only in September 1862, responsible for security within Kyoto and for arranging the punitive
Chōshū expedition. In 1864, Sadaaki deployed Kuwana troops during then
Kinmon incident
The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan that took place on August 20 unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
History
Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1 ...
and as part of the shogunate's effort to subdue the
Tengu-tō uprising. Under Shogun
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...
, he was accorded the same authority as a ''
rōjū
The , usually translated as '' Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''sh� ...
''. During these years Sadaaki was famous as an avid
horseman, and received an imported
Arabian horse as a gift from the Shogunate. He was noted for riding the streets for Kyoto with short hair and in western military attire.
Boshin War
On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor and formally stepped down ten days later; the positions of ''Kyoto Shoshidai'' and ''Kyoto Shugoshoku'' were also abolished. Yoshinobu, Katamori and Sadaaki withdrew to
Osaka Castle
is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
Layout
The main tower ...
and a large military force from Satsuma and Chōshū occupied Kyoto, demanding that the Tokugawa and its cadet houses (including the Matsudaira) be stripped of their title and domains. Tokugawa forces were attacked outside Kyoto, starting the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi
The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the shog ...
, the first clash of the
Boshin War
The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
. Yoshinobu fled to Edo, leaving his troops, including Sadaaki behind. Unable to return to Kuwana, as the
Satchō Alliance
The , or was a powerful military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.
History
The name ''Satchō'' () is a ...
army was in the way, he travelled instead to
Kashiwazaki in
Echigo Province
was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...
, as this was an exclave of Kawana Domain, using a
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
steamship "Costa Rica" from Osaka. After the
Battle of Kujiranami, he retreated to Aizu, where he rejoined his brother Katamori until the start of the
Siege of Aizu. Katamori asked him to leave and seek reinforcements from the other clans of the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
.
[Yamakawa, Kenjirō (1933). ''Aizu Boshin Senshi''. p. 523.] Sadaaki followed his brother's advice and headed for the
Yonezawa Domain
was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered at Yonezawa castle in what is now the city of Yamagata, and its territory extended over the Okitama District of Dewa Pr ...
.
After the fall of Yonezawa and the defeat of the ''Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei'', Sadaaki embarked on
Enomoto Takeaki
Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Mei ...
's warships at
Matsushima Bay, and went on to the
Ezo Republic
The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt ...
. With the fall of then
Republic of Ezo
The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt ...
imminent at the
Battle of Hakodate
The was fought in Japan from December 4, 1868 to June 27, 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate army, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the armies of the newly formed Imperial government (composed ...
, he boarded an American ship and fled to
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
via
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...
intending to go into exile in America or Europe, but lacking funds, he returned to Yokohama, where he formally surrendered to the new government. During this period, Kuwano Domain itself had been left all but defenseless.
Kuwana Castle surrendered to imperial forces without resistance, and Sadaaki's adoptive son and heir,
Matsudaira Sadanori was held at Kuwana under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
.
During the Meiji period
After a few years in confinement, Sadaaki was pardoned by the
Meiji government
The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan.
Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji oli ...
and released in 1872. It was soon after his release that he finally formally married Matsudaira Hatsu, who had just turned 16. In November 1872, he applied for permission to travel to the United States, but was forced to cancel his plans due to illness. In 1873, together with his son Matsudaira Sadanori, he enrolled at a school founded by American missionary
Samuel Robbins Brown
Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown D.D. (June 16, 1810 – June 20, 1880) was an American missionary to China and Japan with the Reformed Church in America.
Birth and education
Brown was born in East Windsor, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College ...
to study the
English language. He accompanied Sadanori to the United States in 1874 when he enrolled at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
Sadaaki joined the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
during the 1877
Satsuma Rebellion
The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...
, leading a group of former Kuwana samurai into combat in Kyūshū against the former Satsuma samurai he had fought in Aizu. Later in life, from 1894 he served as one of the ''
kannushi
A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...
'' of the
Nikkō Tōshō-gū
is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...
, along with his brother Katamori, and his brother's former chief ''
karō
were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan.
Overview
In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...
'',
Saigō Tanomo
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. Chief senior councilor (''hittōgarō'' 筆頭家老) of the Aizu clan, he achieved fame due to his distinguished action in the Boshin War. He adopted the name Hoshina Chikanori (保科 近野里). ...
. He also lived in Tokyo for some time, and had an avid interest in music;
Clara Whitney, an American resident of Tokyo, notes in her diary that he was a skilled
organ player.
Sadaaki and Hatsu had two children, Toshi and Masao, both of whom died in infancy. However, Sadaaki also had a concubine; it was this concubine who bore him a son (Sadaharu) who survived to adulthood. He also had a daughter by another woman; this daughter married
Sakai Tadakazu.
Sadaaki died at age 61, and is buried in the
Somei Cemetery in
Tokyo.
Cultural references
Matsudaira Sadaaki has appeared as a character in many works of fiction, usually in works about his brother and Aizu. In the 1987 TV miniseries ''Byakkotai'', he was portrayed by
Hashinosuke Nakamura.
["Matsudaira sono ichi"](_blank)
/ref> In NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestria ...
's 1998 Taiga drama ''Tokugawa Yoshinobu'', Jō Watanabe portrayed him. He also appears briefly in episode 7 of the anime Clockwork Fighters, Hiwou's war.
Notes
References
* Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). ''Japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''. Münster: Tagenbuch.
* Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
*Sasaki Suguru. (2002). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin''. Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha.
*Tsunabuchi Kenjō (1984). ''Matsudaira Katamori no subete''. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha.
*Whitney, Clara (1979). ''Clara's diary: an American girl in Meiji Japan''. Ed. M. William Steele and Tamiko Ichimata. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International.
*Yamakawa Kenjirō
was a Japanese samurai, politician, physicist, academic administrator, and author of several histories of the Boshin War. He served as president of Tokyo Imperial University, Kyushu Imperial University, and Kyoto Imperial University. He also se ...
(1933). ''Aizu Boshin Senshi''. Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai.
*
"Matsudaira Sadaaki" on bakusin.com
(28 Feb. 2008)
*
(28 February 2008)
Further reading
*--- (1998). ''Matsudaira Sadaaki no Subete''. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha.
*Totman, Conrad (1980). ''Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862–1868''. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
External links
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira, Sadaaki
1847 births
1908 deaths
People of the Boshin War
Meiji Restoration
Kannushi
Kyoto Shoshidai
Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan
Tokugawa clan
Shinpan daimyo
Recipients of Japanese royal pardons